Arc-light electrode.



J. L. R. HAYDEN.

ARC LIGHT ELECTRODE.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 15, 1909.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

IMTNESSES [N VENTDR y Z JDSE'PH L.R. HAYDEN,

BY M

ATTY

UNITED. STATES- PATENT amen a'osm n. a 1111mm; or scnmc'mnx, new roamassmzton T ennnw 'nmc'mro commit; a conrom'rmn or N-Ewxon arc-menu.nnnc'monn Specification of Letters latent.

i lication nee July 15,19oa .Ser1a1-1o.i07,690 1 To all whom it maycomm:

Be it, known that I, Josnra; L. R. HAY- I DEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing .at, Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady andState of-New York,.'have invented certain new and useful Improvements inArc-Light Electrodes, of which the following is a specificatiim,

My invention has reference to improvements in are Light electrodescomposed mainly of two or more metallic oxids and which electrodesareused particularly as cathodes in conjunction with ana-node of carbon, ofcopper, or of other suitable metal.v

The object of the invention is to secure greater uniformity of action ofsuch electrodes than has heretofore been obtained,

- and this result I secureiby making the electrode of a homsmass of thein gredients used, by fusion, as will hereinafter more flilly'appear.

The different metallic oxids of which such cathodes are composed haveordinarily different degrees of fusibility, and, owing to the incompletemixture of' the oxids obtained by the ordinary manner of mixing them,the different oxids fuseseparately,

pounded of magnetite, rutile, chromite, and

possibly some other slight admixture, -like fluorid of potassium, ithappens that when the magnetite is in a perfectly fluid state at theworking end of the cathode the rutile is only imperfectly molten and thechromite may still be in a solid state. As a result ofthis the evolutionof vapor fromthe rutile is retarded and the arc is either entirely or.partially deprived during some stage of the operation of the luminositywhich should be imparted to it by the titanium vapors.

Ihe effect of the dissimultaneous fusion of the componentparts of thecompound is not observable at the beginning of the operation,

but after the cathode has been used for some :time it manifests itselfin the change of color and.- dimming of the are. Again, it

may happen that the are is maintained from the magnetite and ru-tileuntil these materials have been consumed. at the point wherethearc-issues, from the working end of the electrode, and the are must thenfeed upon the chromite particles until these in their turn are consumed.During this last phase I'have found that iftheingredients employedin'the composition. of the electrodes are. very umfoxmlymixedtl-ie different con- Patented Dec. 30, 1,913.-

ofoperation the. are assumes. the dull bluish t nge of the chromium are.Its luminosity" as diminished and itbeeomes hotter, and this highertemperature. is deleterious, t he positive electrode. I

stituents of, thesame; although of different degrees. of fusibility,will. in the. arc practis cally fuse slmultaneously, so that everyconstituent will give its proportional amount of va ors to the arc.

n my application, Serial No. 448,797 filed August 17, 1908 I havedescribed an claimed one mode 0 obtaining a uniform mixture ofthe comonent parts of an electrode compounded mainly of two or more metallicoxlds, and my present invention is an improvement upon that set forth insaid 1 application.

My new process consists in fusing two or more metal oxids, together withany other materials which are to enter into the composition of theelectrode, into one homogeneous n" ass and casting electrode sticks fromthat fused mass. By this method of making electrodes the differentmetallic oxids form at the arcing end a pool which is composed of afluid mixture of all the constituents, "since now all of them fuse atsubstantially the same time, and the evolution of vapor or gases fromthe same proceeds uniformly, each constituent giving vapors inproportion to its proportional quantity present in the.

mixture. No periodic dimming and change of color of light is observablein an electrode made in this manner.

An additional advantage of this invention is that it permits the use ofa higher percentage of the more refractory metal oxids than hasheretofore been practicable.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this s ecification,Figure I is an elevation of one orm of my improved electrode, and Fig. 2is a longitudinal section of another form of electrode made inaccordancewith my invention;

- sired manner.

In Fig. 1, the body 1 of the electrode is composed of a casting of afused mixture of magnetite, rutile chromite and some slight admixture,like fluorid of potassium, as a The electrode is obtained by fusing"flux. these ingredients .in the desired proportions to one homogeneousmass and then casting the electrode stick therefrom in any suitablemold. Owing to the comparative brittleness of this casting the electrodemade in this manner will have to be comparatively i short and thick, asindicated in the drawing;

but much thinner and longer electrodes can be made by constructing themin the manner indicated in 2. The electrode shown in Fig, 2 is also madeby casting in the manner 'hereinbefore described, except that themoldused becomes a part of the electrode it being a metal tube,preferably an iron tube 2, which is closed at its lower end by an ironthimble 3, or in any other de- In this case the fusion is purposelyraised to a higher temperature than is absolutely necessary for casting,in order that the cast mass may become welded to the-iron tube. Thispermits the making of long and thin electrodes, since the brittleness ofthe cast material is neutralized in the whole stick by the soft metalshell.

lVhile the invention is particularly useful in connection withelectrodes containing two or more metal compounds that have diiferentdegrees of fusibility, it is also applicable and useful in-connectionwith electrodes in which the materials employed fuse at substantiallythe same temperature. v

Having now fully described my'lnvention,

' what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. The process of making are light electrodes of two or more metalliccompounds, which consists in fusing the ingredients to one homogeneousmass and pouring the fluid mass at such temperature into a metal shellas to effect the welding of the mass with the shell.

2. An are light electrode, formed of a metal tube with a cast filling ofa homogeneous mass containing two or, more metallic compounds welded tothe tube.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of July,1909.

JOSEPH L. R. HAYDEN.

Witnesses:

, HELEN Omen,

THOMAS W NOONAN.

